After deciding that it is time to start your own small business or start-up company and you have carefully thought about what you want to do, the next step in the startup process for you as an entrepreneur will be to choose a good business name.
I would like to break it to you that your business name is more than just ordinary words by which your small business or startup company will be known, your business name is also a signature of your company. Don’t be quick to think the processes of choosing a business name are all simple, there are many elements that you should consider so that you can be successful when creating a brand name. My advice to start-up founders, when they ask for advice as to what name can best portray their visions for the brand is that whatever name is chosen, it must reflect what their company does and produces.
It is best to write out at least 5 names, from which you will eventually pick the final one. However, before you decide on that final name, I will advise you to visit the official website of the Nigerian government’s Agency or department in charge of business registrations for naming guidelines on the official website which is the Cooperate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria.
The Cooperate Affairs Commission allows you to search registered business names online for free, this way you get to see if the name you want is still available or is currently in use.
How to Choose The Right Business Name
Let us assume you already have a name you like, but you are not yet ready to register the company, you are in luck because the Cooperate Affairs Commission allows you to reserve a name for a small fee. That way you get to keep the name as a trade name till you are finally ready to complete the company registration.
Before you reserve that name, however, I advise you to follow these 6 tips before you choose the name by which your business will be known. Please avoid these 6 mistakes.
1. Do a Research
Choosing a business name is not like naming your new baby. As the child’s father, you look at the baby and then you say, “I name you ‘Bush’ “. Then when asked by the doctor about why you named your child that way you say, “I named him after my Great-grandfather”. Sorry, but naming a business does not work that way.
It is not wise to just pick names without research. Choosing a name for your business is the first part of starting a new business. This part is crucial because this is where you choose a business name that reflects your business’s vision and product or brand. Just as stated above list at least 5 names and then ask people close to you for feedback. And ensure that the name does not have any Geographical limitations such as HighJobLink Limited Asaba or HighReal Estate Limited Kwara because if you happen to get too specific with location, you may find yourself with a name that limits your expansion to other regions. The name you choose should allow your business to open new regional branches in other regions without you being forced to change your name.
2. Competitor
While you don’t want your business name to limit the future growth or direction of your business, you don’t want it to be so general or generic that the name doesn’t give any sense of what you do. While you’re looking for a unique name, keep your eye out for competitors that are using names similar to the one you want. Avoid business names that could confuse your business and another similar type of business in your geographical area.
To someone who doesn’t know the business, a company named Fast Home Services might be a plumber, roofer, pest control service, or even a home inspection service. At worst, the other business could accuse you of trademark infringement, and you could find yourself fighting a lawsuit. But even if that doesn’t happen, you want your business to have its brand and identity, and being confused with a competitor is seldom a good thing.
3. Easy to spell and pronounce
This reminds me of when our recruitment agency wanted to pick our brand’s name, many names were suggested such as “Graduate Jobs”, “Medical Jobs” and “Your Nigerian Job Center” among other names, but in the end, we settled for HighJobLink. Why you may ask, it is easy to spell at a go and easy to pronounce. When someone searches for our company on the internet, we don’t want Google or any other search engine suggesting something else to them.
Please allow me to also remind you that choosing too narrow of a name based on geographical location may one day cause your company problems down the road in the future. So avoid names like “Wedding Dresses of Ilorin”. This is because a day might come when you would love to expand your customer base beyond the city of Ilorin and open new office branches in other regions or countries, you would not want to put a limit on your company or brand to a particular product or city.
There are these benefits your business gets where there is no confusion as clients go online to verify your business online. You want to avoid having to continually correct the misspelled version of your name. Keep it simple. People who have names that are long, hard to pronounce, or difficult to spell tend to get tired of it. And while that can be annoying for an individual, it can be deadly for a business.
4. Avoid Uniqueness
Ideally, you want the business name to convey something meaningful and positive related to your business. Ideally, you’ll be able to get trademark protection for your business name. But for small businesses, that can be tricky. Generic or geographical company names like “Best Plumbers” or “Chicago Pizza” may be great for attracting customers, but they can’t get trademark protection. On the other hand, the names that create the strongest trademarks are made up of names like “Xerox,” which can leave a small business’s potential customers scratching their heads.
5. Your brand
You don’t want a boring name for your business, but you also don’t want to choose something that’s too “out there.” You want your employees to be able to say where they work without hesitation, and you want your name to resonate with your target audience. What distinguishes your business from its competitors? Is it a convenient location? Large selection? Great customer service? Knowledge and expertise? Who’s your ideal customer or client? Before choosing a business name, figure out what you want to be known for. And then choose a name that reflects that quality. “Speedy Car Wash” and “Velvet Touch Car Wash” describe the same type of business, but they convey different images and appeal to different clientele.
6. Web Platforms
Congratulations, you have finally picked a name you like and have done a web search to verify if someone else is already likely using that brand name. Though people will likely tell you not to worry even if there is someone else already using that name, my professional advice to you is to ditch that name the moment there is also a website domain name and Facebook page already named by that someone else. Except if this other business with the same name you like is not in your country.
Now it is time to carry out your survey and find out if you can get a domain name that matches your business name, though this process is placed last, I might add that you let this be a priority because 9 out of 10 businesses in Africa nowadays all plan to go online.
Though I would recommend that you purchase the “.com” domain name extension for your company or business, I also support other top-level domains like .biz, .net, and .org, among other domain extensions.
The study by HighJobLink Limited indicated that the .com domain extension seems to have more reputation among customers and business partners in Nigeria. However, there is the probability that another business is using your preferred domain name as well as your social media account name, if you cannot find another option, then I will advise you to contact the current owners of these domains to see if they are willing to sell the website name to you.